Members of the Oregon Air National Guard returned to Oregon on Friday, Aug. 7, after a six-month deployment to Iraq.

Twenty-nine airmen from the 142nd Security Forces Squadron arrived on four separate commercial flights at the Portland International Airport, to throngs of well-wishers, family members and friends.

The airmen were tasked with base and checkpoint security, as well as checking credentials for all personnel entering Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq. They conducted almost 20,000 miles of mounted patrols in and around the base, and endured 15 rocket attacks and more than 100 incidents of small-arms fire.